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Impulsivity as a non-unitary process

Posted by Chapouthier on 13 May 2012 at 13:26 GMT

Impulsivity is an important behavioural trait, observed both in humans and in other animals, such as rodents. On the other hand, maladaptive impulsivity is, in humans, an important symptom of various psychiatric disorders. Impulsivity may involve impulsive choices (i.e. inability to delay a response for a reward) and impulsive actions (i.e. failure to inhibit an inappropriate response to a stimulus). The present article analyzed the possible relationship between impulsive choices and impulsive actions both in animals (rats) and in human subjects. It was found that, both in rats and in humans, measures of impulsive choices and of impulsive actions did not correlate. This behavioural study was accompanied by a pharmacological study in rats, by administration of the psychostimulant amphetamine and of the selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine. Here again the within-subject effect of the compounds did not correlate between the “impulsive choice” and “impulsive action” tasks. All these data suggest that impulsivity is depending on non-unitary processes and on distinct underlying neural bases. In human subjects, the principal component analysis allowed to separate three independent factors: self-reported impulsivity, impulsive action and impulsive choice. On the clinical side, this provocative study also suggests to distinguish different forms of impulsivity in human psychiatric disorders.

No competing interests declared.
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